Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Professional Development
Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Professional Development
On-going professional development is important for teachers, both old and new, to participate in. This adds to our own learning and development as well as the students we teach. The school's Teacher-Librarian (TL) is one member of a learning community that can play a big part in supporting teacher's curriculum and pedagogy. Meeting the needs of new teachers and experienced teachers alike is important for the TL as it serves to maintain and foster collaboration with their colleagues. It is also an opportunity for TLs to take on a leadership role by presenting professional development workshops to other teachers and staff.
On-going professional development is important for teachers, both old and new, to participate in. This adds to our own learning and development as well as the students we teach. The school's Teacher-Librarian (TL) is one member of a learning community that can play a big part in supporting teacher's curriculum and pedagogy. Meeting the needs of new teachers and experienced teachers alike is important for the TL as it serves to maintain and foster collaboration with their colleagues. It is also an opportunity for TLs to take on a leadership role by presenting professional development workshops to other teachers and staff.
For new teachers and staff, having a library orientation session would be most helpful for them to become familiar with what is available to them in terms of equipment, teaching resources, procedures, and protocols. In my discussion with some new teachers, one had wished that there was support for her in this area at the start of the school year. Another had wished that there was support for how to navigate and work the software program Teacher Connect, specifically the class assignment set up section. It may sound like it is a minor issue but having that support and knowledge would save them the time required to figure it out themselves and any unnecessary stress. This would also be a prime opportunity to talk to new teachers about how TLs can collaborate and co-teach a unit of study with them.
(Retrieved from Google Image)
Collaboration is one key aspect of a TL’s role. At my previous school, some Socials Studies and English teachers had embraced Inquiry-Based Learning and worked collaboratively with the TL to help guide student learning. It was at this school that I learned about the following useful website: http://rightquestion.org/ to teach students how to ask good questions and use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) to generate their own questions to focus on in their inquiry assignment. Here is a sample of QFT in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10VKtgOzsWY
Watch the full video here: http://rightquestion.org/qft-summativ...
Watch the full video here: http://rightquestion.org/qft-summativ...
From my own observation, I think new teachers are more motivated to work with ICT than older, experienced teachers who may be deeply entrenched in the traditional style of teaching. Perhaps, they may not understand the full value of ICT on education. Or they may lack the skills and confidence to use technology in their classroom. I think it is the latter, with that being said, what is the best way to motivate and support these teachers to include ICT in their teaching practice?
I found the following article to be a useful guide that offers some ideas and suggestions on how to support teachers’ ICT curriculum and pedagogy development.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/pdfs/curriculum/appliedskills/mentors.pdf. I especially like that there are sample lessons for those that don't know where to start. This next piece of literature is a blog post by Jonathan Spencer, he points out eleven reasons why teachers are not using technology in their teaching practice. It is an interesting read, many of the reasons he has listed, I have experienced it myself and seen some in other teachers. Can you relate to any of the reasons listed? http://www.spencerauthor.com/11-reasons-teachers-arent-using/.Other ways TLs can provide ongoing support to teachers in their learning community is by leading Pro-D workshops. For example, a TL could lead a workshop on a district initiative such as 'Spirals of Inquiry' or 'Indigenous Education.' Another way is to create a platform for teachers at their school to share their technology ideas as well as their Pro-D ideas. The TL at South Delta Secondary School has created a library website that allows for teachers to do this. On their school library website, under the teacher tab is a link to Professional Development http://sdsslibrary.weebly.com/.
These are just a few thoughts on this week's topic: Supporting Teachers' ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy. On-going Professional Development.
References
“11 Reasons Teachers Aren't Using Technology.” www.spencerauthor.com/11- reasons-teachers-arent- using/.
The Impact of ICT/Digital Learning on Education. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jKRTd8HDw.
“The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) for Summative Assessment.” rightquestion.org/qft-summativ...
rightquestion.org/.
sdsslibrary.weebly.com/.
www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/pdfs/curriculum/appliedskills/mentors.pdf.
SO it was funny because I just read Larissa's blog and made a comment about asking hte correct questions and then I see you have explored that topic as part of your blog! I enjoyed the links you shared and want to look more at South Delta's library website. I was impressed by what I first saw and the poetry digital resource is new to me. I am still not sure about ICT and the classroom but the one blogger made a good point about using 8 pieces of paper but not 8 computers and comfort/familiarity being key. The point about TLs being the producers of ProD is also critcal, remembering the TLs need ProD too and it's finding the balance.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the video on asking the right question and the collaboration/inquiry. I can see using this example. Also the BC Education article on ICT with the idea to recruit teachers to mentor other teachers with ICT was a good idea . I liked the categories of ICT ; Literacy; adapting and transforming and examples they provided. I think educators are in a time of great change so having leaders/ mentors is a great idea and it benefits the students too.
ReplyDeleteYes, as a new teacher, I completely related to your opening comments. I did not know what was available in the library, nevermind how to search their catalogue. I then just shortly found out there was a district library that had an array of resources to use, which would have been so helpful when I was stuck with nothing and had to purchase items for myself.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your QFT video. Again, this term was new to me so thank you for sharing more knowledge about the subject.
While some things may seem as redundant and obvious, there are still people like myself who are just starting out and may not know yet what it out there to learn. I appreciate all helpful hints, comments, suggestions or resources, big or small!
Good post that asks really strong questions, explains the situation that many T-Ls find themselves in, and how best to move forward supporting others. You did a good job coming up with several good suggestions and collections of potential resources to engage and support other educators. A good blog post with videos, links, resources and embedded videos!
ReplyDelete